Gulliver's Travels Short Essay - Answer Key

1. Gulliver is a doctor, but his heart seems to lie with exploring the world around him. What evidence supports that, in Part 1, Chapter 1?

Although Gulliver tries to set up medical practices in England, they keep failing. Instead of finding more work on the mainland, though, he continues to try to find work aboard ships and to write about all the different people that he encounters along the way.

2. Describe the conditions on the voyage where Gulliver's ship runs into a string of bad luck.

The men are sick from spoiled food and they are overworked. The ship also runs into storms that blow it far off its course. Later, the ship hits a rock and Gulliver and five others escape, but their dingy is overturned and Gulliver is separated from the others.